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Month: April 2017

The previous blog post covered the castle and main piazza. Now we move past the piazza, down the main shopping street and on to some key museums.

A quick Insider Tip: You will notice that for museum and even church hours, there is a 3 hour window when things close… those 3 hours are for lunch and rest. Ferrara is full of amazing Italian cuisine and you can’t go wrong when picking a place to eat. Take advantage of those 3 hours and have lunch, dessert, coffee and put your feet up!

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Restaurant Suggestion: Ristorante Cusina e Butega

-Located on Corso Porta Reno, #28 – walk past the clock tower at the end of the Piazza della Cattedrale to reach the restaurant

-Local cuisine with great options for kids and adults

-Open until 3pm for lunch

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What to see in Ferrara continued.

After the castle, cathedral and main squares… continue down Via Mazzini to:

1-Museo di Casa Romei

This is a charming museum with a lovely courtyard, frescoes, art work and stone work. The building was originally the home of a banker in the 15th century! A quiet, nice museum with an interesting history.

Hours and Ticket prices:

-Open 8:30 to 2pm Sunday to Wednesday

-Open 2 to 7:30 Thursday to Saturday

3 Euros for adults, 1.50 Euros for seniors/kids/groups (prices as of 2016)

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2-Museo Riminaldi – Palazzo Bonacossi

Further down the same road where you will visit the Casa Romei, is the Museum of Ancient Art in the Palazzo Bonacossi. The museum is the collection of Cardinal Riminaldi, collected while he was in Rome in the 18th century and donated to Ferrara – his hometown. Honestly I visited this museum as it was included on the MyFe city card. It is pleasant but not terribly exciting, with stuffy paintings, some 17 and 18th century furnishings and sculptures. If you have time, and you have the MyFe card, pop in and take half an hour to look.

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3-Palazzo Schifanoia

This is a magnificent palace that was built for the Este Family as a place to entertain. The name, Schifanoia, means to “banish boredom.” The main attraction is the frescoes painted by various artists on the 1st floor (upstairs) of the “Cycle of Months.” The room is dark but not crowded so you can get close to the walls and see the astounding details, the expressions, and the colors. The seasons are depicted as pageants with Olympian gods presiding over the pageants while being carried on fanciful floats drawn by animals like giant swans. The frescoes were meant to show the order of mankind and nature under the rule of the Duke. It is most interesting, from the creatures, the zodiac symbols, to the elaborate scenes and the quality of the frescos.

Hours and Ticket prices:

-Open 9:30 to 6pm

-Closed Mondays

3 Euros for adults, 2 Euros for seniors/kids/groups (prices as of 2016)

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4-Museo Archeologico Nazionale

This Archeology museum is certainly a gem and a must-see for historical and archeology enthusiasts. The museum is very extensive and you need to allow for a few hours if you plan to study each room. Devoted to the Etruscan city of Spina, the museum exhibits log boats, pottery, bronzes and much more. There is also a lovely garden in the back and the prize room for Renaissance art enthusiasts is the “Treasure Hall.” The last room you will see, separate from the main museum and by the garden, is the Treasure Hall which was probably built as a music room or library. The treasure is the ceiling, a fresco painted by Garofalo. Look up and you will see an amazing feat of perspective for it is as if you are looking up to a balcony where Renaissance faces peer down at you, garlands hang by red ribbons, and a monkey or two play on the railings. It is reminiscent of the Camera degli Sposi by Mantegna in Mantua – which you can read about on another blog post by clicking here.

Hours and Ticket prices:

-Open 9:30 to 5pm

-Closed Mondays

5 Euros for adults, 3 Euros for seniors/kids/groups (prices as of 2016)

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Ferrara is full of amazing collections of art and history.

The next post will feature info on the next spectacular sights to see. Don’t miss a blog post, sign up for a weekly travel blog!

Start at the city center and visit Ferrara’s castle. The castle sits in the center, surrounded by a moat, and yes there are draw bridges. You will find yourself standing on the city block, staring up at the castle while cars, bikes, and motorcycles whiz by – a castle that has been absorbed into the modern world.

The red bricks, red shutters, and towers stand tall and dominate the main downtown. The castle dates back to the late 14th century and was home to the Este Court. Your visit will take you through stately rooms with painted ceilings, artwork, maps, and the charming Garden of Oranges (a balcony filled with potted orange trees, sitting high above the busy city streets).

Hours and Ticket prices:

-Open 9:30 to 5:30pm

-Open until 7pm from June to August with a 2 hour lunch break (1 to 3pm)

-Open every day – March to September!

8 Euros for Adults, 6 Euros for seniors/kids/groups (prices as of 2016)

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2 – Piazza and Cathedral

From the Castle you should walk to the Romanesque Cathedral in the Piazza Trento e Trieste. Along the way, notice the Theater building with a circular courtyard. The Municipal Theater and Ferrara Musica house performances and concerts. From October to May you can buy tickets for the special performances or for the resident orchestra throughout the year.

The Piazza is a long rectangle with the Romanesque Cathedral along one edge. The Cathedral façade was being worked on when I was there, so I had to be content with admiring the side which is decorated with stone columns along the top, all of which vary in pattern and size. The Cathedral dates back to 1135 – that is 800 years old! Always impressive to see the work of those masonry and craftsman still standing! The interior of the Cathedral is dark but when the sunlight shines in you see gold painted angels and the marble floors that look like a giant chess board.

Cathedral Hours: Open 7:30 to Noon and 3:30 to 6:30pm

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3 – Across from the Cathedral (side) is the Cathedral Museum housed in another church. This is a lovely little museum with two parts. Part one is the upstairs floor of the side building where you can see some sculptures and a large collection of illuminated manuscripts. Part two is in the actual church. There you will find tapestries from the 1550’s that depict the stories of Saint George and Maurlius. In addition, there are the 13th century stone panels that depict the months with great detail in the clothes, faces, and tools. And perhaps the most interesting, is the Madonna of the Pomegranate statue, a 15th century stone sculpture.

Hours and Ticket prices:

-Open 9:30 to 1pm and 3 to 6pm

-Closed Mondays

6 Euros for adults, 3 Euros for seniors/kids/groups (prices as of 2016)

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4 – From the Piazza continue down Via Mazzini where you will find a pleasant pedestrian walk by shops and red brick buildings. When I was visiting Ferrara I was looking up at colorful umbrellas, an open art installation over Via Mazzini.

Insider Tip: Ferrara is a city of bikes which means watch out! Be mindful of bikes whooshing by as you back up to look at a building, darting around corners as you wait to cross the street, and remember that little “ding” is the warning sound of a bike rider coming up behind you.

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Continue reading the next post for on what to see past Via Mazzini! — Sign up for the blog so you don’t miss a post – usually once a week so your inbox will not be flooded with emails, I promise.

Looking for a city that is off the main trail, not over run with crowds of tourists, full of hidden sights, has excellent local food and that colorful Italian charm? For every popular and well-known city in Italy, there are a dozen obscure towns to discover and Ferrara, Italy is one of them.

Just over 30 miles North of Bologna, you can visit the tranquil city of Ferrara. The old city center is enclosed by a Renaissance wall and has a fairytale castle in the center of town – moat and all. The city is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which in itself is a testament to the amount of heritage, cultural importance, and wealth of history that there is to appreciate.

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How to get to Ferrara, Italy

By Train from Milan: From Milan you have to go to Bologna (on the high-speed train “Frecciarossa” it takes one hour) – then change and go to Ferrara –just a 30 minute ride).

Side note and TIP: If you take the slow train from Milan to Bologna, the price is cut in half but your travel time doubles – the slow train takes almost 3 hours and you still need to switch to get to Ferrara (it’s still 30 minutes away). So spend a little more, take the high speed train, and spend more time exploring rather than sitting on the sluggish train at half price.

If you are already in Bologna – trains run pretty frequently and Ferrara is just a 30-minute train ride north.

By Car: best advice is to use GPS and follow directions. Road signs can be confusing but with the oh-so-useful round-abouts in Europe, you can keep circling until you figure out which exit to take!

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Even as an off-the-main-trail city, Ferrara has a city card! With options of a 2 day, 3 day or 6 day card you can see 16 sites with the “MyFE – Ferrara Tourist Card.” I highly recommend city cards as they do save you money and actually you end up seeing more museums/sights/churches because you want to get the most out of your money.

See the next blog post that describes what you can see while in Ferrara! — Sign up for the blog so you don’t miss a post – usually once a week so your inbox will not be flooded with emails, I promise.